


o christmas tree

by imposterhuman



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Banter, Boys In Love, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Tree, Fluff, M/M, No Angst, Soft Bucky Barnes, Tony has a heart, ridiculously oversized trees, soft tony stark, this is FESTIVE god damn it, tony is a bit of a scrooge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:47:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21729280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imposterhuman/pseuds/imposterhuman
Summary: “No,” Tony said sternly, crossing his arms. “Absolutely not. We are not getting a twenty-foot Christmas tree.”Bucky pouted. “But Tony,” he argued. “You have high ceilings! The room will look weird if you get a small tree.”“I’d hardly call ten feet a small tree,” muttered Tony. “And you’re lucky I’m even letting you pick the tree.”“You’ve vetoed every one of my choices,” Bucky raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “You’re not letting me pick shit.”
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 12
Kudos: 213





	o christmas tree

**Author's Note:**

> heavily inspired by my own misadventures with christmas trees and my mothers complete resignation 
> 
> enjoy :))

“No,” Tony said sternly, crossing his arms. “Absolutely not. We are not getting a twenty-foot Christmas tree.”

Bucky pouted. “But Tony,” he argued. “You have high ceilings! The room will look weird if you get a small tree.”

“I’d hardly call ten feet a small tree,” muttered Tony. “And you’re lucky I’m even letting you pick the tree.”

“You’ve vetoed every one of my choices,” Bucky raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “You’re not letting me pick shit.”

Tony made an affronted noise. They’d been at the tree farm for almost two hours, but only because Bucky had terrible taste. If he’d pick a halfway decent tree, they could get it and leave. But so far, he hadn’t, and it was Tony’s responsibility as a good boyfriend to let him know that. 

“The last tree you picked was ugly and you know it,” Tony shot back with a dirty look. “It was missing half its needles!”

“So put it in a corner!” Bucky threw up his hands. “You’re just picky.”

“I resent that,” Tony sniffed. “I just have taste, unlike someone else here.”

Bucky laughed out loud. “Then why are you dressed like that?” he teased, softening his words with a quick peck.

“The joke’s on you,” Tony huffed mutinously, but he returned the bit of affection easily. “This is your shirt.”

Bucky flushed in a way he was  _ definitely  _ going to examine later. However, they had a task to complete, and so far, it was not going well. 

Tony, for all of his complaining about tree aesthetics, had never actually picked a tree before. When he was younger, his parents ordered a perfectly decorated one to maintain the happy family facade that they wanted to display. After they died, Tony kept up the tradition. With his workload, he barely came out of the lab for Christmas, much less had an actual celebration. Trees just weren’t a thing he’d done. Bucky wasn’t much better. He grew up during the Depression, for god’s sakes; there hadn’t been the money to spare. And HYDRA hadn’t been big on Christmas celebrations, to say the least. 

Tony wanted the Christmas tree to be perfect, but neither of them had any idea what they were doing and it showed. Still, he would be  _ damned  _ if he let Bucky pick an ugly tree. He may have been utterly out of his depth, but he still had standards.

“How about this one?” he suggested, pointing at what he deemed a decent tree. It wasn’t too much taller than him. There were no weird gaps in the needles, and all the branches looked sturdy. 

Bucky frowned. “It’s… short,” he said lamely. “Can we get one that’s just a little taller?”

Tony was a weak, weak man, especially when Bucky brought out the puppy dog eyes. They weren’t even intentional on the part of his boyfriend, which made them  _ so much worse _ . Bucky looked like he was already expecting a no, something in his eyes braced against it. There was a sad sort of resignation there and Tony’s heart broke.

If a tall tree was what Bucky wanted, well, Tony wanted to make his boyfriend happy. And it wasn’t like he had an actual objection to a one. Sighing at the thought of the amount of ornaments that they’d have to buy to cover it, he pointed over at the patch of massive trees.

“Go get one of those tall ones,” he conceded. “But if there are any weird gaps in it, I’m making you pick a different one.”

Bucky leaned down to kiss him in thanks. Tony let it deepen probably more than he should’ve considering they were out in public, but he wasn’t kidding when he said he couldn’t resist Bucky. He melted at the look in Bucky’s eyes when they pulled apart.

“Love you,” Bucky rumbled, grabbing his hand. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony rolled his eyes. “You’re only saying that because I’m a pushover.”

Obligingly, he let Bucky drag him to where the taller trees were standing. He had to tip his head up an uncomfortable amount to see the tops of them, but Bucky was practically glowing. He moved from tree to tree, examining them with a seriousness he usually only reserved for shooting people.

“Not this one,” Bucky mumbled to himself. He ran a hand through the branches, wrinkling his nose in distaste when the yellowing needles came right off. 

Tony watched his boyfriend with no small amount of amusement and love. “What about that one?” he asked, pointing at one of the trees in front of them. It was the tallest one, and perfectly filled out. Tony was already wincing at the nightmare it would be to clean up after the holidays. But Bucky’s face lit up.

“It’s perfect,” he decided, giving it a onceover. “What do you think?”

Tony smiled. “If you’re happy, I’m happy,” he said honestly. 

Bucky wasted no time, picking up the tree from its stand and walking over to an employee to pay. Tony hung back and let him handle the transaction; Bucky’s people skills had been getting leagues and leagues better, and he saw no need to intervene when Bucky clearly had it under control. Tony took the free minute to ogle Bucky’s muscles instead, which was equally important.

It got even more important when Bucky came back with the tree, securely wrapped in a net, held in his left arm like it was nothing. Tony put his thoughts of that metal arm on the back burner, stepping forward to meet his boyfriend.

“All good?” he asked. He didn’t even pretend to try to help with the tree. He was a squishy human; holding a twenty-foot tree like it weighed nothing was not one of his many and varied skills. 

Bucky grinned at him. “All good,” he confirmed. He hefted the tree more securely on his shoulder, offering Tony his warm right hand for the trek back to the road. 

As they drew closer, though, Tony was starting to see a small, red and gold problem. He glared at the tree, as if it would solve anything (it didn’t spontaneously combust; that wasn’t one of his skills, either. Yet). 

Bucky put the tree down gently, resting it against his shoulder. “Um…” he started, staring at their transportation. Tony had flown them to the tree farm in his suit, because New York traffic around the holidays wasn’t something he was going to deal with when he could literally fly. 

But he hadn’t accounted for having to lug home a behemoth tree. Tony sighed loudly, regretting a lot of decisions at that moment.

“How the  _ hell  _ are we supposed to get that back to the Tower?”

**Author's Note:**

> despite my best efforts i am getting FESTIVE so yall should probably expect some holday themed stuff (disclaimer: most of it will be nonreligious christmas because thats what i celebrate and i dont have the knowledge needed to portray other holidays in a sensitive manner, but if yall wanna hit me up with Facts on tumblr pls do!)
> 
> comments and kudos make me smile :))
> 
> yell at me on tumblr [@imposter-human](https://imposter-human.tumblr.com/)


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